Another home win for the Ducks, 3-1

An unconventional goal on the first shift of the game seemed to be just what the Ducks needed to snap out of their offensive doldrums.

But that didn’t get the goals flowing. Neither did eight power plays against a seemingly spent Montreal Canadiens team at the end of a four-game West Coast trip.

So how did the Ducks pull out a much-needed 3-1 victory Sunday night at the Honda Center? A little teamwork on two big plays 33 seconds apart in the third period did the trick.

Chris Kunitz converted a brilliant pass from Ryan Getzlaf with 7:24 remaining to break a 1-1 tie, and Samuel Pahlsson finished a two-on-one short-handed chance with Scott Niedermayer for an insurance goal that clinched their seventh consecutive home victory, tying a team record.

The Ducks (39-25-7) won their first game since leading goal scorer Corey Perry was lost for the next six weeks because of a partially severed tendon in his right quadriceps.

“We had chances all night,” Kunitz said. “We were shooting the puck and unfortunately it wasn’t going in for us, but we found one toward the end.”

Getzlaf set up the winner from behind the net as he picked up Kent Huskins’ pass around the boards and swung the puck back across the crease through the legs of Canadiens forward Maxim Lapierre to a crashing Kunitz.

The puck went in off Kunitz’s shin pad past Montreal goalie Carey Price, helping the hard-nosed winger hit the 20-goal barrier for the second consecutive season. Jean-Sebastien Giguere kept the Canadiens at bay by making 20 saves.

“I was more kind of directing the puck at the net rather than hitting Kuni back door,” Getzlaf said. “It was just Kuni who went to the net hard and was able to tap in.”

Todd Bertuzzi appeared to set up a chance for the NHL’s top power play to strike by taking a boarding penalty. But Rob Niedermayer broke up an advance into the Ducks’ zone and his brother picked up the puck and steamed up ice with Pahlsson.

“You can’t say enough about Scotty jumping up into the play like that,” Kunitz said. “Sami seems to almost never miss those.”

Division rivals Dallas and San Jose also won Sunday, leaving the Ducks four points behind the Stars and three behind the Sharks. If the playoffs started today, the Ducks would be seeded fifth and open on the road against the Sharks.

“I think we’re in a situation where we’ve got to worry about our points,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “Don’t worry about what other teams are doing. Stay focused on the things that we have control over.”

Losing Perry and his 29 goals might have pushed the Ducks over the edge after consecutive shutout losses to Chicago and Colorado on the road.

But these are still the defending Stanley Cup champions, who stayed the course even though their only goal in a four-game span of 122 minutes 37 seconds was a fluke score by Todd Marchant only 21 seconds into Sunday’s contest.

Marchant’s shot on the first shift of the game went up in the air off the stick of Montreal defenseman Andrei Markov and dropped into the net behind Price.

Multiple chances to seize control went awry as Price stopped 34 shots. But the Ducks stuck to their game plan.

“We stayed with it and we didn’t get frustrated, which is a huge sign,” Carlyle said. “Our power play had some chances, and a few of them, we didn’t execute to the level we would have liked.

“That usually can take life away from you, but it’s a credit to our players. Mentally, we stuck by our guns and said we’re going to push through this and get the job done.”

Playing without second-leading scorer Tomas Plekanec for the first time this season because of flu-like symptoms, Montreal tied the score at 8:44 of the first when his replacement, Mikhail Grabovski, set up Alex Kovalev for a one-timer that surprised Giguere, who was caught out of position.

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eric.stephens@latimes.com